Sherlock and Law and Order: UK

I spent the entire day watching the BBC's Sherlock, a 21st century adaptation of the Doyle character starring Benedict Cumberbatch (To the Ends of the Earth, Amazing Grace) and Martin Freeman (UK Office, future Bilbo Baggins). Three episodes, all an hour and a half each, available on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery site until the 7th of December, amazing. With a great performance by Cumberbatch who looks so tall but is only 6'1"ish, this series is witty, fresh but classic. Freeman as Watson's chemistry with Cumberbatch's Sherlock is great. Filmed on location in London, it made me pine for it even more than I have been. It's co-written by Steven Moffat of amazing Doctor Who fame (Blink, Silence in the Libarary, the new Matt Smith season as head writer). This blog post is pretty incoherent, unlike the show, which is great. The new series starts filming in May. Better get my tickets to go and stock it NOW!

Also, Law and Order: UK=awesome. Just as piney for London as Sherlock.

Drama: Hamlet (2009)

Confession: I've never finished reading Hamlet, despite its being assigned numerous times during my college career. I've also hardly payed attention to discussions about it.

That being said, I came to the RSC's version of Hamlet fairly fresh and unsullied. Of course I wanted to watch this specific Hamlet because duh, David Tennant plays Hamlet. The production (the filmed version of the successful staged play at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon) is an interesting film from a theatre point of view, in that it preserved some constants of theatre, i.e. many scenes are shot from less than ideal views, harkening to the fact that an audience member hardly ever has the best view for every scene.

The set was on a highly glossed and polished black floor or in haunting corridors of a brick edifice. The costumes were modern, but inventive. Hamlet was often barefoot, most noticeably during the play when he wears a tux. Queen Gertrude wears some stunning silk gowns with trains to beat the band.The English suits are sublime and Tennant in his fitted white shirt is all I could ever ask for. The final scene, played in fencing jackets is sleek and sexy (I have a weakness for fencing jackets).

Oh Tennant. I love David Tennant, so much. After Hamlet's descent into madness I must admit I couldn't help but see Doctor Who in his performance, but the comparisons were quickly done away with. The banter delivered and received throughout the play was quick, natural and witty. Hamlet's madness was believable as a spoiled young man being a jerk, but also a mourning son at his wit's end. Hamlet's "To be or not to be", a speech that has never particularly thrilled me was shot and delivered so skillfully that I couldn't look away, neither could Tennant. The last 2 minutes is delivered directly to the camera without a blink. The man is a beast. The overall performance of Hamlet by Tennant was coherent, intimate and volatile. I loved it.

I can't say much for Patrick Stewart as Claudius. I knew he was a bad guy, but in my view he wasn't evil enough, but I suppose that might be the brilliance of it. His mother was nothing special until her closet scene. Her nervous laugh and cry after Hamlet bids her goodnight as he pulls away the old man's body was shattering. Ophelia was misused and pitiful. I still haven't decided about Laertes yet.

And "the rest is silence".

Just kidding, he just died again. I love that guy.

Dramas

Being in London and seeing the likes of Anthony Howell, Fiona Shaw, and Simon Russell Beale (to just name a few) on stage has spurned quite a few drama discussions amongst the girls in the group. It seems, of course, that I've seen the most. So I'ma post a list of absolutely ALL the dramas I can think of that I've seen. As a followup I'll most likely rewatch many of these this summer when I get home, so reviews might follow, including costume reviews, book to screen reviews and general reviews. If you know of any others, feel free to post comments

"drama": costume drama usually of the BBC variety.
*This list will be edited to include links, correct spelling, and more specific years and actors etc.

The Affair of the Necklace 2001
The Age of Innocence 1993
Amazing Grace 2006
An Ideal Husband 1999
Aristocrats 1999
Becoming Jane 2007
Berkeley Square 1998
Bleak House 2005
Bram Stoker’s Dracula 1992
The Buccaneers 1995
Casanova 2005 (Tennant)
The Clandestine Marriage 1999
The Count of Monte Cristo 2002
Cranford 2007
Dangerous Liaisons 1988
Daniel Deronda 2002
David Copperfield 1999
The Duchess 2008
Elizabeth: The Golden Age 2007
Emma 1996
Emma 1996 (TV)
Emma 2009
The Forsyte Saga 2002
Girl with a Pearl Earring 2003
Great Expectations 1999
Great Gatsby 2000
He Knew He Was Right 2004
Horatio Hornblower 1998
The House of Eliott 1991
Howards End 1992
Importance of Being Earnest
Impromptu
Inheritance
Jane Eyre (Dalton)
Jane Eyre (Hinds)
Jane Eyre (Stephens)
Jefferson in Paris
Lady and the Duke
Lady Jane
Little Dorrit
Lost in Austen
Lost Prince
Mansfield Park (80s)
Mansfield Park (O’connor)
Mansfield Park (Piper)
Marie Antoinette
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein
Master and Commander
Mayor of Casterbridge
Middlemarch
Miss Austen Regrets
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
Much Ado About Nothing
Nicholas Nickleby (D’arcy)
Nicholas Nickleby (blonde)
North and South
Northanger Abbey (80s)
Northanger Abbey (fields)
Our Mutual Friend
P&P (80s)
P&P ‘95
P&P ‚05
P&P Mormon
Patriot
Persuasion (Hinds)
Persuasion (Penry- Jones)
Possession
Remains of the Day
Return to Cranford
Robin Hood (new)
Robin Hood (series)
Room With a View
Room With a View (Carter)
Sally Lockhart
Scarlett Pimpernel
Scarlett Pimpernel (Seymour)
Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton
Sense and Sensibility ‘08
Sense and Sensibility ‘95
Shakespeare in Love
Sleepy Hollow
Tennant of Wildfell Hall
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Tess of the D’Urbervilles (Wadell)
To the Ends of the Earth
Triumph of Love
Turn of the Screw
Twelfth Night
Under the Greenwood Tree
Vanity Fair
Vatel
Victoria and Albert
Virgin Queen
Washington Square
Way We Live Now
Wuthering Heights
Winslow Boy
Wives and Daughters
Young Victoria

London Assurance

Ok, so I guess this'll be more of a cultural blog b/c I like to write play reviews that aren't strictly about the costumes. That being said...

London Assurance at the National! Starring Fiona Shaw and Simon Russell Beale this play is a mid 19th century comedy with a fop, a country girl, a masculine woman and all sorts of shenanigans. Simon Russell Beale plays Sir Harcourt Courtly, an aging dandy that has arranged to marry the niece of his friend to secure her fortune and his. Grace is agreed to this because she doesn't believe in love, but falls in love with Charles Courtly, Sir Courtly's son, while in disguise (Charles, not Grace). Meanwhile, Sir Harcourt falls for Lady Gay Spanker (Fiona Shaw) who assists Charles in distracting his father from Grace. Hilarity ensues.


The actors were completely committed to their characters and didn't judge them, leading to some of the funniest moments I've ever witnessed on stage. Beale's portrayal of Sir Harcourt was absolutely sublime. His body language (as you can see above) spoke volumes that added to the comedy written into the piece. His costumes were fantastic, consisting of an incredible morning outfit, his first "country" suit (seen above), a second suit in plum, a white tie satin tuxedo with pumps and his traveling attire (including a purple cape).


Fiona Shaw played Lady Gay, an always happy and boistrous woman who's married her husband, the aged Dolly Spanker, so that she can always be in control. When first introduced she's wearing her hunting ensemble (above) which is fantastically drawn to show a well shod leg. She laughed and smoked and drank and was just absolutely too great. I'd tried to describe her attitude to you, but I can't. She was just too great.


Lady Gay accepts Sir Harcourt's suit in this fantastic dress! The darker stripes are iridescent and from far away the fabric looks like it's been painted on with big brushes. So fantastic! In stiff taffeta this amazing dress moved like a dream.

The cast included (from left) Richard Briers (Sir Spanker), Fiona Shaw, Simon Russell Beale, Mark Addy (Max), Paul Ready (Charles Courtly) and Michelle Terry (Grace).

The costumes were just fantastic on everybody and like I said, the comedic acting was so honest, sincere and nonjudgmental of the characters that it was riotous! One of my favorite pieces ever.

Harrods

Harrods has ruined me forever. My friend Martha and I went the other day and maybe saw 1/3 of Harrods. She has a fashion degree and works in the shop w/ me and I of course am an avid lover and follower of fashion. Seeing De La Renta and Dior and Marc Jacobs and so many others up close and personal made me weep internally. First of all the craftsmanship is amazing. One De La Renta Dress had diagonal seams all the way around the middle with the invisible zipper in on the diagonal. It was amazing. Also, furs and angora were everywhere and I just had to touch them all. You can tell that Marc Jacobs is a clean designer, but you don't really grasp the crispness and extreme perfection of his tailoring and designs until you're up close and personal with them.
Saw this person:
http://www.oscardelarenta.com/?folderId=/collections/runway/spring2010#lookId=51&


MENSWEAR:::oh. my. goodness. We only scratched the service of the menswear, and actually didn't go into the bigger names, but what we saw made us weep. We're talking a leather jacket that was so buttery and well tailored I would marry ANY MAN that wore it (providing he went out and found it and bought it himself). Suits with hand pick-stitching everywhere, real buttonholes on the cuffs, and amazing material. There were cardigans that were too adorable for words and plain old dress shirts with so much detail I couldn't help but gasp.

I was a little underwhelmed by the shoes actually. I can appreciate paying exorbitant amounts for well made clothes out of good materials, and the same goes for shoes, but I feel like with shoes there's no cap for how much you can charge for a jelly flat.

Recent Purchases.

I packed light so I could buy stuff when I got here. So far I've bought some clothes, but mostly books. The V&A has an amazing bookstore, so I'm actually surprised I didn't buy anything from there. I would have if I hadn't bought 3 books from the Fashion Museum in Bath, 2 of which are from V&A Publishing. I also bought a Janet Arnold from the Globe. These books are cheaper in the UK and I don't have to pay for shipping! Well, mostly cheaper.

Patterns of Fashion 1540-1620: Superb, of course. I'm excited to go home and perhaps play with making some of the doublets into women's jackets. This one has much more visual research in the front, which I greatly appreciate because this is a hard time period to research for.
Fashion in Detail 18th Century: HQ detail shots of highlights of the Victoria & Albert fashion collection. Beautiful. One grievance: you don't get a full shot of the garments. I know it's Fashion in DETAIL, but sometimes it's a little TOO detailed. Technical sketches are provided.
Fashion in Detail 19th Century: Better than 18th century. Has many full length shots of garments.
Corsets: fabulous. Has excellent photos and sketches and patterns for each corset ranging from the late 18th century to about 1910. Includes construction instructions and projects in the back. While some corset descriptions include original dimensions, I wish they all did. I can figure it out of course, but would have liked to have the work done for me.

London: attractive men, cute shoes and jeggings

Men here are much more attractive than back home. They have the same attractiveness in the face department, but they are so much better groomed! A dapper hair cut and European clothes do the body good. Although...

Best looking man I've seen in my life: Jogging past Martha and I on the way to the tube. Tall, dark, ridiculously handsome, short curly hair and just in jogging stuff. He smiled at us because we both broke out in huge smiles as soon as we saw him. Ah....

Also, the general trend for women of the younger set is to be less groomed rather than more. Haircuts are layers and frayed and shaggy. Fashion leans heavily towards shapeless on top and fitted on bottom. Very short skirts are popular with tights. Leggings are popular with tunics. Some women are very well put together. Raincoats and jackets abound. As mentioned earlier, jeggings are worn as pants (above).


Women here wear adorable lace up leather flats like men's shoes (shown above) and I want some real bad and will probably budget to get some b/c I've never seen anything like them in the states.